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Friday, August 14, 2015

Chicken, Quinoa and Chickpea Stuffed Bell Peppers

Bell Peppers have made quite a showing at the Farmer's Market. Beautiful yellow, orange, red and green colors are too pretty to resist. They are perfect for stuffing! My husband and I purchased six peppers with mixed colors at our weekly Sunday market trip. I knew that I would stuff them somehow, but I didn't have a stellar stuffing recipe. Until now...I knew I wanted to include ground chicken as part of the stuffing. I recently treated myself to a grinder attachment for my stand mixer and was itching to try it out.Months ago I mentioned to my husband that I wanted to start grinding my own meat, particularly chicken. Ground turkey is something that has made it to my 'ewwww' list because it seems so pasty (likely mechanically separated) and the particular brand I had been buying for years has a peculiar odor to it. I think because it has added flavor. My husband's response to DIY meat grinding was a sarcastic inquiry whether or not I was planning to raise and slaughter the chickens as well. While this is something I am quite capable of doing (I grew up on a farm in Kansas after all), I have no interest in a bunch of foul fowl roaming my tiny California backyard with all the Salmonella and E. coli that come with them. Knowing too much about bacteria has kept me away from various projects that could really be interesting and fun. I would love to collect fresh eggs from my backyard and then make chicken and noodles from a hen that crossed me one too many times. Anyway...This was a perfect first project for my meat grinder! My daughters didn't care at all for for the pepper but absolutely loved the filling. One even mentioned that I should ditch the peppers and make the filling on its own. I remember being the same as a kid and still don't like bell peppers on pizza. There are some dishes that are great for bell peppers - and this is one of them!CHICKEN, QUINOA AND CHICKPEA STUFFED BELL PEPPERSIngredients:

6 bell peppers, color of your choice

1/3 cup red quinoa

2/3 cup water

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 pound (454 g) ground chicken or other ground meat of your choice

1 15-ounce (425 g) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 8 ounce (227 gram) can tomato sauce

1 can 14.5 0z (411 g) petite diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon fresh oregano

1 tablespoon fresh basil

salt to suit personal taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F.

Cut top from peppers. Remove seeds and membrane. Bake peppers cut side down 30 minutes or until desired texture has been achieved.

Cook quinoa in water in covered saucepan until all liquid has been absorbed, approximately 20 minutes.

Heat olive oil over medium heat and cook chicken until done.

Add quinoa, chickpeas, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, oregano, basil and salt. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Divide stuffing evenly among the baked bell peppers. (At this point, I find the peppers ready to serve since the filling is warm; however, you may want to bake 10 - 15 minutes.)

Okay, how much do you love your grinder attachment?? I didn't realize how much a difference it would makes, knowing that my ground meat/chicken/seafood is safe means a lot to me! And I find it sautés much easier when you don't have to break it up as you do with packaged meats.

On to the beautiful peppers... I was just thinking the other day that no one serves stuffed peppers anymore ... and then you walk in the door. Love the combination and use of quinoa! Want to try these soon!

peppers just seem perfectly shaped for stuffing, and it doesn't hurt that they taste wonderful too! i haven't thought about grinding my own meat, but now that you've mentioned it, it definitely seems like a worthwhile step to take!

Ha! I always ate the stuffing and left the peppers behind when I was a kid. I would still do the same and crush this chicken stuffing. Isn't the meat grinder awesome! I love mine. If only I could have my own chickens....